Tokyo Court Extends Ghosn’s Detention by Eight Days

More time was expected, although shorter than predicted.

Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn accused former colleagues of backstabbing in a video made just before his re-arrest last week.

Former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn will be spending more time in jail than originally proscribed by the Tokyo District Court. In a move surprising no one, the court extended Ghosn’s detention period to April 22.

He was initially set to be released on Sunday, but was expected to be detained another 10 days so the judge’s move to limit it to eight is a bright spot for the former auto executive.

The move gives prosecutors eight more days to bring formal charges against the former Nissan Motor Co boss or let him go. Ghosn’s detention period during his initial arrest last November was extended several times at the request of prosecutors.

The court and prosecutors were criticized by many observers for the constant extensions, but prosecutors claimed they needed the extra time to conduct their investigation and that were more charges to investigate.

(Former Nissan boss Ghosn expected to be in jail for at least 10 days.Click Here for the story.)

Ghosn was arrested for the last week on suspicion that he had misappropriated $5 million for his own benefit. He is also awaiting trial on earlier charges of financial misconduct and aggravated breach of trust, Reuters reported.

He was released on $9 million bail in early March after spending 108 days in jail. From the beginning, he has denied all allegations against him. Just prior to his re-arrest last week, the executive made a video claiming he was the victim of a conspiracy.

The video was released to the media last week. In the video, his first public statement since his initial arrest in November, Ghosn accused “backstabbing” former colleagues of conspiring to get him fired from his job as Nissan chairman and threatening the Japanese automaker’s future.

“This is not about greed or dictatorship, this is about a plot, this is about a conspiracy, this is about a backstabbing,” Ghosn said. “I am innocent of all the charges that have been brought against me,” he said, without explaining further.

The seven-minute video was edited by his legal team to remove the names of people Ghosn accused of treachery due to legal concerns. Ghosn said fears that he would bring Nissan closer to Renault sowed the seeds of treachery.

“There was fear that the next step of the alliance in terms of convergence and in terms of moving toward a merger, would in a certain way threaten some people or eventually threaten the autonomy of Nissan,” he said.

Ghosn also said Nissan’s current management is to blame for three profit warnings and a domestic scandal involving improper vehicle inspections since his departure as CEO in 2017, noting the performance of the current leadership is “very sickening.”

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